Four days into preseason, and Maine high school teams are settling into a rhythm of routine, getting to know their teammates better and starting to have an idea of what type of team they’ll be this fall. And they’re still running a lot.

Varsity Maine sent reporters to Buckfield girls soccer, Cony boys soccer and Freeport cross country practices on Thursday, and here is what we learned in Buckfield:

Dropping down, Bucking up

The Bucks went 15-2 and won the Class D South regional championship last year, but they won’t have an opportunity to defend their title. After graduating 11 seniors, including most of the starting lineup, Buckfield has moved to 8-person soccer. However, the young team doesn’t think its skill is dropping along with its program numbers. If anything, they believe it’s strengthening it.

“We do seven-man summer soccer, so we’ve always kind of been familiar with playing with less people in the field,” senior sweeper Alyssa Breton said. “I think it’ll be helpful to make it so our second-string of people coming in and subbing is a lot stronger of a group.”

Senior midfielder Chloee Bennett says friendship and the team’s chemistry is its strongest quality at this point of the preseason. Head coach Justin Davis says there is a bit of an adjustment since he is coaching his players to operate in more space with less backup, but he’s confident in his roster’s ability and versatility at positions.

Familiar face in a new place

Another big change is on the sideline. Justin Davis, a former assistant coach for the boys soccer team and a health teacher at Buckfield, took over as head coach from Annette Caldwell during the summer. Breton says the transition has been smooth.

“I’ve had three coaches, and they’ve all been very different,” Breton said. “I’d say (Davis) has a great way of working with all of us and figuring out how each of us play, since we have so many young players, figuring them out and just getting to know us individually. He’s a teacher at our school, so we all know him on a little bit more personal level, which is really nice, and he’s doing a great job to push us.”

Conditioning the body and mind

Although the number of players on the field decreases, the size of the field remains the same. So, Davis has made conditioning a point of emphasis during this first week of practice, saying the team will not be outrun.

“All the drills in the morning, you can tell (the freshmen) don’t really like it, but I think they’ll realize it’s going to pay off in the end,” Bennett said.

The walk-jog-run is a team favorite conditioning drill, while down-and-backs are at the bottom of the list.

“I think their mental fortitude is very strong,” Davis said. “I know I’ve been out here challenging them, and they still show up every day and work hard, so I’m very grateful for that.”